Trajectories of Attitudes toward Police among Serious Juvenile Offenders

• In Event: Early Stages of the Juvenile Justice System: Diversion and Attitudes Related to the Police

Abstract

A review of the existing literature on juveniles’ attitudes toward police reveals a variety of predictors exist including prior delinquency, race, gender, neighborhood dynamics, and perceptions of procedural justice. While a great deal is known about youth perceptions of law enforcement from isolated cross-sectional studies, there has been little in the way of a comprehensive longitudinal examination of attitudes toward police over time. The current study builds upon literature by identifying developmental trajectories of juveniles’ attitudes toward the police by utilizing longitudinal data from the Pathways to Desistance Study of serious young offenders in two major US cities. Policy implications are discussed.

Author

• Selye Lee, Indiana University of Pennsylvania